RICHMOND, Va. - An elementary school in Westmoreland County is getting recognition for more than education.

The Virginia Pollinator-Smart Program announced that Cople Elementary gets the state's first Gold Certified pollinator-friendly award for a solar panel array. Solar sites like Cople include acres of native plants and grasses to attract endangered pollinators, such butterflies, bees and wildlife.

Lisa Mattson, director of pollinator programs with Sun Tribe Solar - which installed the array with the state program - says these species are crucial for the food system.

"Pollinators are of the utmost importance, because 75% of our food crops rely on pollinators for promulgation," says Mattson. "Pollinators are in terrible danger right now, and we all have an obligation to do what we can to bring them back."

The Commonwealth's Pollinator-Smart Program will be posting a webinar about how to build pollinator landscapes at solar installations and in communities. The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation website has more information.

Virginia is likely to see even more solar pollinator-friendly installations, with passage of the 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act. The landmark bill shifts the state away from fossil fuel use to renewable energy by 2050.

The law prioritizes solar access. And Rob Davis, director of the Center for Pollinators in Energy with Fresh Energy - a nonprofit that supports the Virginia Pollinator-Smart Program - says that means a potential boom in solar pollinator habitats across the state.

"We're talking about an incremental but meaningful difference in the vegetation growing around, as well as under, the plans throughout the project," says Davis.

In the United States, the number of bee colonies per 100 acres has declined by 90% since 1962, according to Greenpeace. Climate change, use of pesticides and habitat loss are considered leading causes of the decline.

A critical fish species in the Chesapeake Bay, the Atlantic menhaden, could be declining rapidly.
Or its numbers could be growing.
There is no data on Atlantic menhaden populations in the Bay, and fishing and conservation groups say that's the problem.

A bill in the Virginia General Assembly looks to shed light on menhaden populations in the Chesapeake.

Steve Atkinson, chairman of the Virginia Saltwater Sportfishing Association, said Atlantic menhaden is a keystone species and may be overfished in the Chesapeake Bay.

"They're extremely important as a forage fish because they feed fish, like our iconic striped bass, bluefish and trout," Atkinson explained. "But they also feed mammals and also seabirds, like our iconic osprey. For years, there's been concern that they are being overfished in the Chesapeake Bay."

The bill would provide $3 million for the study of menhaden populations in the Chesapeake Bay. The Virginia Institute of Marine Science has developed one study but Atkinson noted funding for the research has been elusive.

Tyler Nonn, owner and operator of Tidewater Charters, takes people fishing on the Bay every day. He said his business relies on healthy Atlantic menhaden populations. He pointed out there are times even the best commercial fishermen are unable to catch adult menhaden.

"Even those guys have trouble getting them," Nonn observed. "The consistency is not there. You know, we'll have a couple years where it'll be good. A lot of that has to do with environmental factors, but taking hundreds of thousands of pounds of them out of the Bay does not help the cause."

Studies indicate about 30% of the striped bass diet is Atlantic menhaden.

Atkinson emphasized oftentimes, their advocacy faces circular reasoning, when if there is no evidence of shrinking Menhaden populations, why fund a study? But he argued the health of the species is worth checking.

"When we raise these issues, the industry usually comes back and their comment is the same, which is, 'There's no science to support your concern,'" Atkinson noted. "We need to get additional science to show them once and for all whether or not there's a problem with menhaden in the Bay."

Atlantic menhaden are not considered overfished across the entire Atlantic coast, but local depletion may be threatening Chesapeake Bay populations.


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It's been 30 years since wolves were reintroduced in Yellowstone National Park, a move that remains controversial today - as Colorado's livestock industry pushes to keep the apex predator's footprint from expanding.

Katie Schneider - the Colorado wolf representative with Defenders of Wildlife - said the Yellowstone reintroduction is one of America's most powerful conservation success stories, and has inspired other states to consider bringing back wildlife killed by Europeans expanding westward.

"Wolves still only inhabit around 10% of their former range in the Lower 48, so our work is not done yet," said Schneider. "And the reintroduction of wolves to the Southern Rockies here in Colorado is a really exciting next step in that recovery process, building on what we've learned in Yellowstone."

After voters approved reintroduction in 2020, Colorado Parks and Wildlife released 10 wolves in Grand and Summit counties in 2023 - despite objections raised by livestock producers worried that the carnivore would get their product before it reached the slaughterhouse.

Last week, the agency rejected a petition by producers to block the release of an additional 15 wolves this month.

Colorado pays producers who lose livestock to wolves, but Schneider said lessons learned in Yellowstone show that it's possible for wolves and people to coexist.

She noted that Defenders has been advancing proven conflict mitigation tactics in Colorado - including range riders, fencing, and hazing - since 2019.

"There are currently 11 different programs offered in Colorado by NGOs and universities and state and federal agencies, to assist livestock producers in preventing conflict," said Schneider. "And nearly every operation that has worked to implement these measures had no losses."

Wolves are very resilient. Schneider said just 14 were released in Yellowstone in 1995, and there are now at least a dozen packs inside the park.

She said the reintroduction has also been a powerful economic driver, bringing $35 million each year to communities surrounding the park.

"And we know up there, the return of wolves sparked a huge boost in their local tourism industry," said Schneider. "People from around the world come to watch just wolves in Yellowstone National Park."

After a months-long delay, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Wednesday that grizzly bears will retain protections under the Endangered Species Act, despite efforts by several western states to remove them.

The decision is an answer to petitions from Montana, Wyoming and Idaho to re-evaluate or delist grizzly bears in certain "distinct population segments" - a change that would have put the species under state management.

Andrea Zaccardi, carnivore conservation legal director and senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, said the agency is also proposing erasing lines between population segments entirely.

"They're going to look at grizzly bears across their range where they currently exist and where they could exist in the future. And look at recovery on a broad scale," she explained.

The proposed recovery zone includes Washington and parts of the northern Rocky Mountain states. The agency said in a statement that the change "will provide a comprehensive and scientifically based framework for recovery," and increases the likelihood of eventually delisting grizzly bears across the entire region.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte said on X that he's "deeply disappointed" with the Biden administration and what he describes as its "defiance of science and the law."

Zaccardi said if the federally proposed larger recovery zone is put in place, state wildlife management agencies will need to adjust.

"The states are going to have to pay more attention to protecting grizzly bears that are in connectivity corridors, where they could potentially connect populations to one another or move into areas such as the Selway Bitterroot and repopulate that area," she continued.

The Fish and Wildlife Service in October published an updated independent, peer-reviewed assessment of the species that it says "compiles the best available scientific information."


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